


She Was My Wife

by Noëlle McHenry (Quasi_Detective)



Series: Project Eclipse [21]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, F/M, Self-Loathing, biography, eulogy, life support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 15:50:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5876686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quasi_Detective/pseuds/No%C3%ABlle%20McHenry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Detective Mortensen tells the story of his life between two tragic events.</p>
            </blockquote>





	She Was My Wife

 

            **S** he was my wife.

            The doctors let me be the one to unplug Emilie’s life support. Some might say such a moment would be bittersweet, but on that day in October of 2008, it was nothing but bitter.

            She was my wife. She was the love of my life. Yet, sitting there staring at my hands, if I didn’t know any better I could’ve said I’d killed her.

            Simon Callahan, one of my higher-ups, was sympathetic. He had a wife of his own, and a little girl, too. I’m sure he was able to walk in my shoes to understand the pain I was experiencing. But still, I pushed him away. I almost didn’t have a say in the matter; it was for his own good.

            Emilie’s death was my own fault. I didn’t want to be responsible for hurting anyone else. The best course of action, then, was simply to close myself off. I grew up lonely, so rejecting anyone who wanted to socialize with me would surely be easy-peasy.

            Honestly, perhaps I became a bit of an asshole, even to those I cared deeply about. But it was easy to stick to my decision… At least, until the morning of my birthday in 2013.

            I was in the middle of doing work, or something I thought was work, when I was interrupted by Simon entering the room with his twin brother, Frank.

            My glasses-wearing friend sung praises, most of which I merely scoffed at. It was with a huge, dopey grin that he announced why he had barged into my office. He told me it was a surprise present from our boss, Mrs. Bellamy. Since Simon started calling out for a “harlequin”, I figured the entire thing was just some sort of practical joke, but then suddenly a young man walked in. Most notably, he wore a blue cap and a green vest. From the way he walked, I could tell that he was nervous. With his head tilted toward the wooden floor of my office, he nodded meekly when he noticed I was staring at him.

            I was told that he was Detective Miles Quinlan, and that he was to be my partner for a case I had to take on the very next day. In a bit of a huff, I kicked all three men out of my office so I could be alone. I couldn’t believe they had the gall to force a partner onto me, when given my history, they should’ve been avoiding such a thing like the plague.

            Still, work was work, and after much inner conflict, I decided to meet with Miles at the rendezvous spot for our first case; believe it or not, this was Mrs. Bellamy’s house. Yeah, I was confused, too.

            As I approached the glaringly-pink house, I discovered that Miles was waiting patiently outside for me. Having had his back turned to me, he turned to face me when he hear me coming up behind him, and to my surprise, upon laying his gray-ish blue eyes on me, his face brightened with what I thought to have been a rather out-of-place smile.

            Miles tried to greet me with friendliness, but I shot his advances down almost immediately after he made them. Becoming at all attached to Miles Quinlan wasn’t an option to me; I had to hate him, or else I’d be devastated if he ever got hurt.

            What happened during the rest of that first case we had together doesn’t matter, partially because I don’t think anyone would believe it if I were to recite it as an anecdote, but we ended up continuing to work together, which was no help to my anxious feeling that being around me spelled out danger for the unfortunate rookie, especially not after he lost his left eye in an altercation with an old antagonist of mine, who went by the name of Malachy.

            Malachy’s attack had been a warning. I found Miles in his house, lying naked on the bathroom floor. I felt that same feeling of dread swell up in my chest; the dread I felt after realizing Emilie’s injuries had been my fault. Even so, the first thing Miles said after he woke up was my name. He didn’t seem to care if I had indirectly put him in danger, but he did care passionately about having Malachy caught, which led to him stepping back from the force after an argument with Simon, who refused to attack the issue.

            I was happy to let Miles leave. The further he was from me, the safer he’d be, I thought. I could handle being alone; I’d been raised lonely. This led me back to thoughts about Emilie.

            She was my wife; my dearest friend. My only friend, really. I wished endlessly to have her back, but to no avail.

            I was alone again.

 

            Tick-tock.

            Before I knew it, time was ticking.

            Malachy had Miles.

            The psychopath had taken to stalking whatever the newspapers in Lyon decided to publish about me, which led him to determine that kidnapping Miles was a good idea to get me to come to him.

            I had failed. Miles wound up shot. The only difference is, back then, he survived.

            Today, I stand before you to honor the memory of one of the best friends I’ve ever had. He was selfless, and even when I tried repeatedly to shove him away, he refused to leave me alone. I didn’t realize soon enough just how much I cared about him. I regret shoving him away, but I don’t blame myself.

            I blame Noël Ragsdale. I promise you, all of you, I will do everything in my power to see that Miles Quinlan is brought to justice, unlike Emilie.

            She was my wife.

            He was my partner.


End file.
